Thursday, 24 August 2017

WALALA X PLAY is a small maze of mirrors and colourful, bold patterns. It was easy to feel lost at times with the mirrors playing tricks on you and the different angles of the walls but it was a lot of fun. It was a playful experience that kids (including big kids) would enjoy as well as anyone interested in the installation as art. I had a great time taking lots of photos....

Can you see my reflection?

I'm not one for selfies but I couldn't resist taking some, with a maze full of mirrors it's hard not to!

A part of this installation is to try and find the inconsistencies among the pattern, can you spot it in this one below?....

We were so lucky to go soon after it had opened as it has proven to be so popular that you now need to book in advance. It has certainly been popping up on social media a lot.WALALA X PLAY is well worth a visit. It is open until 24th September 2017 and is free, but make sure you book your ticket well in advance. And don't forget to wear matching, pretty socks because no shoes are allowed in the installation!

Thursday, 17 August 2017

I've finally gone through all of my photos from the Blogtacular Photowalk. You can read about my experience of the conference here.There were two photo walks that were running the Friday afternoon before the conference. I didn't know which one I would be on until 24 hours before and the route was kept a surprise, all I knew was I needed to meet everyone in Shoreditch. Our host for the walk was the lovely Nikki McWilliams. East London is great for photos, there is so much street art which is always changing. Anyway enough natter, I am going to let the photos do most of the talking. I took photos with a mix of my phone and DSLR....

Thankfully we didn't need umbrellas but these colourful ones were great for photos

A HiFi on a post.

A house painted by Camille Walala

The handstand in front of a colourful wall has become Rachel's signature pose on photowalks!

When street art matches your hair and outfit!

When Bloggers get together, colourful food has to be photographed in front of a colourful wall!

Thank you Nikki for being a fab guide on the photowalk and for the Tunnocks teacake.

Tuesday, 1 August 2017

Thank you to everyone who has entered the #CraftBlogClub giveaway to win a copy of Jenniffer Taylor's book, Girl With A Sewing Machine.All the entries have been put into the List Randomiser on Random.org and the winner is.....(drum roll)

.... Andrea Kay*!Congratulations Andrea! Please email me your details via craftblogclub@gmail.com and I will send you this great book.Sorry if you haven't won but don't worry, you can find Jenniffer's book here.Before you go, don't forget you can join our #CraftBlogClub every Tuesday 7-8pm on Twitter.

P.S. The amazon link is affiliated.*Update 29/08/2017: The original winner, Claire Davies, did not claim her prize. After trying to get in touch with Claire numerous times we decided it would be best to do another draw with the original entrants on 29th August 2017. Andrea was drawn using an online random generator.

Wednesday, 19 July 2017

Last month I attended Blogtacular for the first time and it was amazing! So before I tell you all about the weekend, what is Blogtacular?

"Blogtacular is the place for people whose hearts beat with creativity to come together to meet, share and inspire."

It's not just for bloggers, it's for small businesses/entrepreneurs that have an online presence.

The past few years I read everyone's posts about Blogtacular and wishing I had been there but I was put off by the price. The more I read about it and how people go year after year I decided to take the plunge and invest in myself and I am so glad I did. It is worth every single penny and this is why....

My tribeThis was the ethos of the event, the creative community. The goody bag says it all....

It was great being with creative people who get you and understand when you say you're a blogger, no explanation needed! Meeting lots of like minded people was definitely a highlight for me. I got to meet people who I admire and follow on social media as well as catch up with friends I already know and make new ones. There were lots of opportunities to socialise on the day of the conference but they also had fringe events on the Friday which were a great way to get to know people. There were simultaneous photowalks and a videowalk across London. I went on the photowalk in East London around Shoreditch, there'll be another blog post with all my photos from this but in the meantime you can check out the hashtag #Blogtacularphotowalkeast on Instagram.

On Friday night there was a get together at West Elm which if you have not been is an amazing shop selling unique furniture and home decor. This was a time to chat, mingle and drink unicorn smoothies! I actually didn't get to try the smoothie as there was a huge queue for them so I stuck to the cider that was on offer, that's more my thing anyway.

It was an early 8:30am start on the day of the conference but we were welcomed with pastries and decent coffee, this was a good sign that it was going to be a good day!

There were three sessions of workshops with a choice of four for each one but I didn't miss out, all of the sessions were filmed so we can access them at a later date. What a relief as it was hard to choose but before the workshops we were welcomed with a keynote by Natalie Lue....

Natalie delivered lots of positive messages and shared her pearls of wisdom....

"Creativity can't be controlled. Be open, let it go!"

"Take Action - Nothing is Perfect"

"Your Plan is not THE Plan"

A moment of clarity and reassurance came when Natalie started talking about how nothing is linear. "By doing A then B and C does not mean X,Y and Z will happen". This is so true, it can be so frustrating when you do all the right things and the outcome you planned for doesn't happen! It's just the way it is sometimes and it happens to everyone at some point.Natalie's address has made me really look at what I want from my business not what I think I should be doing. I need to believe more in what I do. What impressed me about all the speakers was they inspired and shared their knowledge without a sales pitch or talking about themselves. The sessions were jam packed with useful information.WorkshopsMy first session was creative writing, can you tell?!

Greta shared brilliant techniques to use and we had an opportunity to practice them in the session. This was helpful for any type of writing and will help me find my style as well as help with product descriptions.

This has made me take a step back and look at my overall brand and how I communicate with you all across social media. It turns out I don't need to put everything on Instagram! By sticking to 2 or 3 themes not only is my feed consistent but it's easier to manage. Everything else can go on stories which I have been using a lot more since.The other workshop I chose to attend was on self doubt....

OMG! This workshop was designed for me! I am frequently consumed by self doubt which can lead to anxiety. Sas's thoughts on self doubt were so insightful and the exercises she took us through really helped me understand what my fears and self doubt mean. The group was great as everyone was sharing their stories and fears (even I had a go on the microphone!). It turns out I'm not alone in the self doubt camp. I'm thinking of doing a post dedicated to this, what do you think?Closing Keynote was by Emma Gannon.....

Emma talked about the current climate and how blogging is not just about the blog anymore. It’s about creating a platform, and using that platform for other things. We are a generation of more than one skill, Emma is a Blogger / Podcaster / Author, I'm a Designer / Maker / Blogger / Small Business owner, what are you?

Attention to detailI loved the attention to detail, the amount of hard work and thought that was put in to make sure it was a quality, enjoyable event. Even in the run up to the event the emails, Twitter chats and blog posts made me feel less nervous as a newbie and I knew what to expect. The venue was decorated by the talented B of Pop Pop Papier. She filled the space with colourful balloons and streamers that were Intasgram-tastic! It even gave me the opportunity to finally update my profile picture.

I would never make a food blogger because I eat everything before taking any photos so you'll have to trust me on this, the food was amazing and there was plenty of it for breakfast, lunch and breaks.

We were even provided notebooks (this will make it easier to find my notes to refer back to in the future instead of trying to work out which notebook they are in!). My notebook was designed by Katie Moody and Cakes with Faces designed the other one, her website is worth checking out especially this t-shirt which I now own.As we left we got a goody bag, the print was designed by Judy Andrews ad look at the goodies we got inside....

There was also a beautiful biscuit by Honeywell Bakes, and chocolate by Chococo,but they got eaten on the train on the way home, I told you I'd make a terrible food blogger!

I think this was the right event at the right time for me. I want to grow creatively as well as grow my business but I haven't felt confident to take the exciting but unknown path. The overall experience made me realise that I've given myself too many parameters to live and work by, but screw that! It's time to go forth and chase those dreams.Hopefully you are still with me, it's a lengthy post but I couldn't leave anything out! I can't wait for Blogtacular 2018, will I see you there?

This post contains photos by Amber-Rose Photography who were the professional photographers of the event and Blogtacular who have kindly allowed attendees to use them. I have credited the images that are not mine.

Hi!....

I'm Fiona (aka fizzi~jayne). Welcome to my crafty blog. I love to make things and doodle. I drink too much coffee, eat too much chocolate and I'm the face behind fizzi~jayne makes.... Grab a cuppa and have a look around....